Here’s Why You’re About to See Mushrooms Everywhere

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Don’t trip, but you’re about to see mushrooms everywhere. They’re moving out of the kitchen and into your closet. From mushroom vitamins to mushroom “leather” bags, the future of fashion and beauty is brought to you by fungi.

As fashion continues its reckoning with sustainability, brands are constantly trying to evolve and create more eco-friendly and animal-friendly products. Hermès recently announced the brand will begin using a mushroom-based “leather” as a leather alternative. In partnership with MycoWorks, this lab-grown alternative, which has been named Sylvania, is made of mycelium—part of the root structure of mushrooms—into a leather-like material. This new material will imitate leather and be available on the reimagined Hermès Victoria travel bag.

Leather has long been a big part of the Hermès brand. The origins of Hermès are rooted in equestrianism; they continue to make saddles and other fine leather goods. From iconic bags to belts, leather is central to much of what the brand has to offer; as such, this is a bold departure for Hermès and is sure to inspire other brands to follow in the house’s footsteps.

Stella McCartney is another brand where you’ll be seeing fungi-based products. A longtime animal rights advocate, Stella McCartney and her eponymous brand have been revolutionizing the fashion industry for years. As a vegetarian brand, Stella McCartney never uses leather, and the brand’s latest development is, like Hermès, also rooted in mushrooms. The brand collaborated with longtime partner Bolt Threads to launch a vegan fungi-based fabric called Mylo (like Hermès, the leather-alternative is also made of mycelium). But rather than focusing its efforts on bags, the brand is creating garments. So far, there’s a black bustier top and utilitarian trousers, which are not yet for sale, but represent the future of leather-alternative fashion.

Mycelium is reportedly infinitely renewable and has fewer environmental impacts than alternatives. According to the Stella McCartney website, it’s not petroleum-based (whereas most current synthetic options are), so more fossil fuels can be kept in the ground and less plastic will be deposited into landfills and oceans.

But fashion isn’t the only place we’re seeing mushrooms. Meanwhile, mushroom-based products are about to be a major part of everyone’s beauty and wellness routine as well. Cult-favorite brands like Kora Organics, Moon Juice, and Youth to the People are offering mushroom-based beauty products, while newcomers to the industry like Mushroom Design have harnessed the healing power of mushrooms to create a daily multivitamin. Mushroom coffee also has us buzzing (no pun intended). It’s becoming increasingly popular: Four Sigmatic Mushroom Coffee offers a mushroom-based coffee that claims to be jitter- and crash-free. Laird Superfood also makes a performance mushroom blend that can be mixed into coffee, tea, smoothies, or other drinks for a boost to your day.

While these brands are embracing mushrooms right now, mushrooms are certainly not a new phenomenon when it comes to healing and wellness. A major part of Traditional Chinese Medicine, fungi such as Tremella mushrooms and Reishi mushrooms have been a tool for healing for centuries. Mushrooms have been tied to fighting inflammation, restoring complexion, and keeping the body in balance (after all, TCM is based in preventative care and identifying imbalances before disease sets in).

From clothing to beauty products, mushrooms are the next big thing. While brands are embracing mushroom-based products, mushrooms are also all over clothing designs too. For brands like Fiorucci and Iris Van Herpen, designers have been inspired by mushrooms and implemented them into their designs. Check out the gallery below for all our fave mushroom-inspired products.

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